Page 20 of Ink & Snow
“That would make me very uncomfortable. And I don’t like being uncomfortable.”
Elias shivered. “You don’t? I find I enjoy it quite a lot.”
On any other day, yes maybe. Elias was very good looking, clearly open to something, and available, from what it looked like. But I didn’t want an Elias. He was a day too late. Now I wanted Amory, wanted to chase the way he’d blushed when talking about piercings all the way to the ones he so clearly hadn’t wanted to bring up right away.
I sighed. “No, thank you.”
Elias gave me doe eyes and sucked his bottom lip. It was all show. Well-curated show, but I’d met his type before. Extremely high maintenance and demanding, even with your cock down their throat.
“Seriously, no thank you,” I repeated.
He pouted. “Fine. Can you please not tell Valentin? He says I can’t flirt with people within five minutes of meeting them. He wouldn’t understand I know you better than that after looking into you. Can I get that wreath in the middle there? It’s so pretty.”
And yes, he had an eye for good work. That one really had turned out the best. So, from all the many options I had to respond, I chose to remain calm and get my ladder from the back.
I wasn’t in the least surprised to see him look at my ass the moment I got up there and unhooked the wreath. I took my time with it, asked, “Why’d you look into me?”
“It’s what I’m supposed to do when new people move in, especially when they start businesses. Can you imagine a florist who’d refuse to handle the flowers for the ceremonies we hold at city hall? The queer ones, obviously. That would be a very big mess, though I don’t think one quite as sizeable as the kinds of messes you’re used to fixing.”
Uh. So he’d gotten it right. Officially, I’d been a business consultant. Unofficially…yes, I’d fixed messes, many of which Cecil had provided me with through his connections, dubious though they were.
“Just to keep the town safe,” I said, stepping down the ladder. “Want this wrapped?”
He beamed. “Oh, yes please! I like a shiny wrapper.”
Of course he did. All the shiny things for this one. “I don’t have shiny I’m afraid. Just plain.”
He shrugged. “The memory of you doing the wrapping will have to suffice.”
If Elias was trying to rile me or get a reaction out of me, he’d fail. Or he’d need to try a lot harder. As I began folding the paper over the wreath, he drifted pretty close, but he didn’t make the mistake of getting into my personal space.
I considered what to charge for the wreath, then doubled it. Elias smiled and pulled out his wallet, counting out cash.
“You might be fun, Mr. Bennet,” he told me as he handed me the money.
“I have no intention of being any fun whatsoever.”
“What a waste of an opportunity that would be. Did our local artist tell you about the club?”
Huh. Amory, the local artist? I really had to check out that tattoo parlor from the inside.
“Your boss’s sex club?”
He brightened like a child being offered candy. “Yes, that’s the one.”
“Mentioned it in passing.”
Elias made a moue. “I’ve been trying to get him there so he can share a fruity cocktail with me. Ah, he can even have his own. You can come too. Our doorperson will let you in. They know a shiny wrapping when they see it.”
“Uh-huh. You see, I have flowers to take care of.”
Elias smiled his broadest smile yet. “All the flowers, yes. Well, if you change your mind—”
He handed me a business card, heavy, black. The design was simple, tasteful, a wave of silk winding around the gold and silver embossedSilken Chains.It had the address, both physical and online.
“Thank you. Have fun with your wreath.”
“I will. I’ll hang it in the mayor’s office. You have to kiss under mistletoe, those’re the rules, you know.”
